Para Sports
Explained: Why did the IPC drop Navdeep Singh and Kathuniya’s events from the LA Paralympics?
Paralympic champion Navdeep Singh's Javelin Throw F41 and Yogesh's Discus throw F56 events are discarded from the LA28 roster.
Navdeep Singh and Yogesh Kathuniya might miss out on LA Paralympics as their events are not part of the roster.
Two leading Indian Para athletes received devastating news this week as the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) excluded their events from the LA Paralympics lineup.
The Indian players who will be the victims of this change are the Paralympic champion F41 Javelin thrower Navdeep Singh and double Paralympic medalist F56 Discus thrower Yogesh Kathuniya.
The reasons behind the exclusion of these events remain unclear. However, The Bridge explores factors that may have influenced this decision:
Gender balance initiative
A key goal for the LA Paralympics is to promote gender equality across all sports disciplines. For the first time in Olympic history, the 2028 LA Olympics will feature more women than men.
The Paralympics aim to mirror this milestone by balancing the distribution of medal events between male and female athletes.
To this end, the LA Paralympics reduced eight men’s events while increasing women’s events across three sports, striving for a more equitable representation.
Lesser participation
Another likely factor is the number of athletes competing in certain classifications.
At the Paris Paralympics, the men’s javelin F41 category — Navdeep Singh’s event — had only six participants, the lowest among men’s javelin classes. Similarly, Yogesh Kathuniya’s F56 discus category saw just five participants, the fewest across men’s discus events.
Such limited fields may have influenced the IPC’s decision, as organizers seek to enhance competitiveness and ensure a robust level of participation.
By contrast, men’s shot put remains the strongest field event, retaining all 16 medal events from Paris, as each of those events had at least seven competitors there.
